


Reckless

by StardustAndAsh



Series: Wild Life [6]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Cave-In, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Child Abuse, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Recovered Memories, mute Wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24248113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StardustAndAsh/pseuds/StardustAndAsh
Summary: Wild and Time are trapped in a cave in with an unconscious Hyrule. When Time's temper gets the better of him, Wild remembers exactly who Time reminds him of.
Series: Wild Life [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642186
Comments: 37
Kudos: 755





	Reckless

**Author's Note:**

> BIG STRUGGLES WITH THIS ONE!! Hopefully its still readable.
> 
> Probably can read as a stand alone from the rest of the series.

The fight was long and gruelling. The monsters were coming at them in waves, as if summoned straight out of the earth. Wild would’ve thought Legend’s Hyrule a tougher place than his own if it hadn’t been for the black blood and smoke that came off of the monsters as they fell. It felt as if they had been at it for hours. Maybe they had. Wild’s arms burned after wielding weapon after weapon. There had been no time to find a tree to climb to fire a bow from, or space to get distance enough to try and regroup. For now they were spread thinly across a patch of grass and slowly being backed up against the rock wall of a cliff.

“Can you see any openings?” called Warriors over the metallic ring of swords clashing and monsters howling.

“No, they just keep coming,” Time yelled back.

Wild ducked under a moblin spear and rolled past it, springing back up to his feet and stabbing at it with his current weapon, a flimsy short sword. He let the others’ shouts pass over him. He couldn’t join in the conversation after all. All he could do was try and take down as many enemies as he could in order to either end the fight or create an opening for them all to get away.

There was a cry of pain. Wild looked to his left to see Legend holding a hand to his side. Blood was welling up between his fingers and soaking into his tunic but there was a determined set to his jaw as he faced off against a bokoblin with a nasty looking, and now bloodied, blade. With a snarl Legend leapt forwards, spinning to dodge another thrust from the bokoblin, and quickly dispatched it.

Without needing to look Wild’s fingers tapped at his Sheika slate until a fairy tonic appeared in his free hand. He parried the moblin in a blow with enough force to make the bones in his arm vibrate and let out a quick whistle. Legend’s eyes met Wild’s, and Wild tossed him the fairy tonic over the moblin’s arm before jumping out of the way and refocussing his attention.

With another quick jump and a well-placed slash of his sword, the moblin Wild had been fighting came down with a gurgling roar. Glancing towards Legend he saw the hero battling without favouring the side now stained in blood. Good. The fairy tonic had worked. There was barely any time for the thought before a lizalfos armed with a scimitar and buckler shield shrieked and danced into Wild’s space.

“What in the fresh hell is that!” shouted Wind. The familiar echo of ‘Language’ was either lost over the sound of battle or forgotten as the heroes all turned to look.

Wild ducked under a slash from the lizalfos and looked around for what Wind was shouting about. When he saw it, his heart stuttered in fear. A Guardian Skywatcher hovered above the battlefield, its body glowing the unfortunately familiar pink that meant it had an enemy in its sights. Wild looked around for who it’s eye was trained on.

There, at the back of the group, where Hyrule was alone with his back pressed against the rocks. Wild could see the red light of the Guardian’s target lighting up Hyrule’s chest. A shout built in his throat before it died, leaving his lips as nothing more than a garbled shriek.

Heedless of the danger, Wild took off in a dead sprint. Some part of his mind dimly registered the lizalfos’ sword grazing his shoulder but he didn’t break his stride. Overhead the Guardian Skywatcher was buzzing closer to Hyrule, who was still unaware of the danger.

The last of Wild’s ancient arrows had been spent before he had met the group, and so far he hadn’t encountered any Guardians. The last time they had been in his own Hyrule they hadn’t gone to Akkala, and Wild didn’t trust the others enough to leave them on their own. Inwardly Wild cursed himself for not getting more. Regular arrows might slow it, but not destroy it. It would only pick a new target.

Distantly through the clash of swords and the shouts and roars of both his companions and their enemies, Wild could hear the Skywatcher’s high pitched quick beeping. Hyrule had only a few more seconds, and Wild wasn’t going to make it.

There was nothing else to do but pray Urbosa didn’t hit his companions.

Wild raised a hand, still sprinting towards Hyrule, and snapped. As he did a long-fingered ghostly green hand appeared next to his own and mimicked the action with a crackle of electricity.

At almost the exact same instant Wild noticed Time also running for Hyrule.

“Hyrule, run!” shouted Time. Wild had a moment of jealousy for Time being able to shout a warning where he had only been able to make a strange scream.

The moment didn’t last very long, seeing as Urbosa’s fury exploded around Wild. The lightning arced upwards and slammed into the Skywatcher with incredible power. It beeped once shrilly as it fell, colliding with the cliff face Hyrule was trapped against. The Guardian exploded on impact and the rock wall shuddered and splintered. Rocks bigger than a hinox came crashing down towards Hyrule. But Wild was faster, he had to be.

Wild threw himself forward, calling on Daruk as he did so. His fingers latched onto Hyrule’s green tunic and with all the force he could muster Wild pulled Hyrule into his arms and the safety of Daruk’s protection. Unfortunately, Time had a similar idea. No sooner did Wild have a grip on Hyrule than Time slammed into them both. With his size and weight he sent all three of them sprawling under the falling rocks. Wild only saw a brief flash of the orange barrier of Daruk’s protection against the darkness of the rocks before Time’s armoured shoulder slammed into his forehead.

Wild wasn’t sure if he’d actually lost consciousness or if he’d just been dazed from the knock to the head, but his next true thought was that it was dark. Very dark. On instinct he reached for his Sheika slate and was pleasantly surprised to find he could still move. Wild drew the slate up so he could see the screen and found that it cast a faint light in the dark, not enough to see properly, but enough that he could see the glint of Time’s armour.

“Wild? You okay?” asked Time.

Wild nodded, then wondered if Time could even see him.

At least Wild could light whatever space they had a little more. He scrolled through the slate until he could pull out a flame blade. It wasn’t in the best shape, but it would be able to light up whatever space they had.

The sword lit up a small cavern in an orange glow. The rocks had fallen in a way that formed a small protective bubble around the three of them. Time was sitting cross-legged and hunched over from the low ceiling. Hyrule was lying curled up next to him. At first Wild felt a spike of fear through his heart, but then he saw Hyrule’s chest rise and fall.

Wild turned so that he could place the sword in the centre of their small space, but felt an odd resistance. Looking down, Wild followed the lines of his left leg to where they met the edge of the broken stones surrounding them. At roughly the centre of his shin flesh disappeared into rock. It didn’t hurt, but that didn’t exactly make Wild feel any better about it. He gave an experimental wiggle of his toes, but didn’t feel them pressing against the inside of his boot.

“Wild?” Time’s voice brought Wild’s attention away from his trapped foot.

Now that Wild could actually take in the details he noticed a bruise forming on Time’s nose and a dark patch in Hyrule’s hair that could only be blood. There was barely enough room for the three of them beneath the rocks. They must have been buried deep, as Wild couldn’t hear the noise of battle through the boulders.

“What were you thinking?” started Time. He didn’t sound angry, more exhausted. There was still a bite to his words that put Wild on edge, however.

Wild shrugged. What he’d been thinking was Hyrule was about to get killed by a Guardian and he had to do something. This isn’t quite what he had intended, but for now they were all alive and relatively safe.

“What does that mean? You just thought exploding something would be fun?”

 _“Guardian, it’s from my Hyrule. It would have killed him, they’re very dangerous,”_ signed Wild. 

“Could have used an arrow,” said Time.

Wild just shook his head. Regular arrows, even when aimed at a Guardian’s eye, didn’t do much to slow them down.

“What you did was reckless. Hyrule was hurt. You need to warn us before you do something like that. I could have avoided the rocks, or Hyrule could have gotten out of the way without you needing to blow up the scenery,” Time said in a biting tone. “Do you have a fairy on you for Hyrule?”

Wild frowned. It was all a bit too pot and kettle. But there was an odd buzzing in the back of his head, and it grew louder as Time talked. Louder and louder until it drowned out Time’s words and the reality of the dim rock hollow was wiped away from his eyes.

_The training armour was heavy, but Link paid it no mind. They were running a drill today, a more advanced one than Link had ever participated in before. All the other trainees were at least five years older than him, almost real adults. Almost full knights. Link felt something like hope flutter in his chest._

_The others gave him a respectful distance, not making small talk with him as they did the others as they waited for the instructor to give the signal to begin. That was fine. Link was used to people not talking to him. The Master Sword pulled many eyes towards where it sat heavily in its scabbard on Link’s back. Every step it haunted him, a constant weight of expectations, too big still for both his arms and his shoulders._

_The whistle blew, and Link charged ahead with as fierce a battle cry as his unbroken voice could muster. His feet pounded against the dirt with twenty other trainees and he felt his heartbeat with every step. Sword in hand, Link threw himself at the enemy trainees with as much force as he could muster._

_At first it went well. Link’s dull practise sword bounced off enemy armour, the trainer calling out every time. Pride swelled in his chest. It felt like he could take on the world. Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted the enemy leader, noticeable by the red and gold striped tunic they wore over their armour. Link grinned. He ducked and dodged the carnage of his fellow trainees and made his way as sneakily as he could towards the leader. With a yell Link shot forward, bringing his sword up quickly for a strike at the leader’s chest._

_There was the clang of swords connecting then Link felt his sword being wrenched from his grasp. In disbelief he watched his practise sword sail through the air before clattering unceremoniously to the ground a few feet away. He was only vaguely aware of the leader’s sword pointed at his throat and the trainer’s shout that he was out of the exercise. The sword should be in his hand. That’s where it belonged._

_Link walked off the field with his head hanging low. He had felt so high from the fight, but now he simply felt like a failure. With his head hanging low Link first spotted his observer from his boots. They were familiar, worn and faded military-issue. Link’s eyes drifted up over the familiar uniform to look into hard blue eyes framed by honey-blonde hair. He had been watching._

_“What was that?”_

_“I-“Link started._

_“Don’t try any excuses on me,” said Father._

_“Please, Sir, I don’t know what happened. One second I had it, the next it was gone.”_

_“You were reckless, charging in without a plan. You need to be better, Link. That sword is no toy,” said Father, gesturing to the Master Sword strapped to Link’s back. “The Calamity is coming. You need to be ready.”_

_Link felt a lump forming in the back of his throat at the disappointment in those blue eyes._

_“Yes, Sir,” Link barely managed to choke out the two words._

_Father looked down at him, his mouth set in a hard line. Link wanted to hunch in on himself and hide away but knew better than to give in to that desire. Instead he held himself tall, with his shoulders square and hands together behind his back. Ready for orders._

_“Come. You can return to the barracks when you can keep your grip on your sword,” said Father._

_“Yes, Sir,” said Link quietly. His heart sank. Likely he would not return to the knight training grounds until the moon was high in the sky._

Wild was jolted out of the memory by a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, the movement reminding him of his trapped leg, and looked up. The same eyes from his memory were looking down at him and framed by the same honey-blonde hair. Wild inhaled sharply.

“Wild, can you hear me?” the voice was muddied, distant. Wild tried to focus on it. It wasn’t the voice from his memory.

He looked up, trying to take in the details of the face in front of him. Blue eyes, no, eye. One was shut and marked with tattoos. His face was still young, not yet lined with many years of stress. Time. This was time. And lying on the ground was Hyrule.

Wild scrabbled at his slate and pulled out a small pink fairy. She sat on his hand for a second, before fluttering over to Hyrule and letting her healing magic fall over him. Hyrule breathed easier, and rolled over a bit, but remained out cold.

“Thanks Wild. I don’t have any potions or fairies on me,” said Time as he ran a gentle hand through Hyrule’s hair. “You zoned out again there. You okay?”

Time leaned back to give Wild some room. It was appreciated, but he still felt off kilter from the memory. It was as if he were caught somewhere between the two, with his body in the cave with Time and Hyrule and his mind caught replaying what he had just remembered.

 _“Sorry,”_ Wild signed absently.

“It’s not your fault, Wild. Was it a good memory?” asked Time gently.

Wild shrugged. He wasn’t quite sure what to think. It wasn’t good or bad necessarily. It just left him feeling hollow. Wild guessed it was because when he didn’t know, he could imagine his father as anyone. Someone kind and gentle, maybe a baker or blacksmith. Now he knew. He knew his father was a knight, and from what he could remember, was someone neither kind nor gentle.

Time left it alone, though Wild could see that he wanted to know. His brows drew together and he picked at the earth beside him. The silence didn’t last longer than a minute before Wild raised his hands to sign again.

 _“I remembered my father. You look like him,”_ he signed before he could really think about what he was doing.

Time’s eyebrows shot up so fast it was comical. “I look like him?”

Wild nodded.

“What was he like?” asked Time. There was a thoughtful expression on his face, like somehow Time already knew the answer.

 _“He was a knight, like I was. He was helping me train to be ready to wield the Master Sword,”_ signed Wild in halting, jerky movements. He wasn’t quite sure how to put it, and neither did he really want Time to know.

Time nodded, looking solemn. There were gears turning behind his blue eye and Wild waited to see what he had to say.

“Wild, I know I can come across gruff, or yell at you from time to time, but when I do its because I worry. You’re reckless and wild and I don’t want to see you or any of the others get hurt because of it. But I want you to know I’ll never hurt you, okay?” said Time seriously.

Wild couldn’t do more than sit in stunned acceptance. That was not what he was expecting Time to say. Obviously Time had done some mental gymnastics to land on whatever conclusion he had come to, and Wild was about to set the record straight when he stopped. He couldn’t exactly know what the record was from just one memory.

Either way, Wild wouldn’t get the chance.

A strange pressure on his numb foot made Wild jump as high into the air as he could with a leg trapped.

“I’ve got one of Wild’s boots!” came a muffled shout.

“Oh shit, you think they got crushed?”

“You said a boot, is there a leg in it?”

There was another odd feeling of pressure around Wild’s ankle. Despite his attempts at wiggling his foot away, nothing he did made his foot move at all.

“Yep, leg confirmed!”

There was the sound of shifting stone and the small cavern around Wild, Time, and Hyrule groaned.

“Hey, be careful!” shouted Time.

The movement stopped and Wild could hear much excited talking, though the rocks muffled out any actual words. That, or the other heroes had all started talking over each other, which they were prone to do.

“Time, is that you?”

“Yes. Wild and Hyrule are with me. Hyrule’s hurt,” shouted back Time.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you guys out in two shakes of a goat’s tail.” That voice was undeniably Twilight.

There was nothing to do but wait. Around them the rocks groaned as they shifted, and there were several times Wild thought the whole thing was going to give up and crush them. But less than five minutes later a crack of light shone through the rocks, only to be replaced by Sky’s relieved face. Another few minutes had the rocks cleared away enough that the three of them could get themselves out. Or rather, Time could get himself out, Wild had to do an awkward shimmy movement to get his leg completely free, and Hyrule was still out of it and had to be carried out.

Wild blinked dumbly in the daylight. His eyes found the carnage his fellow heroes had left behind. Monster loot littered the ground unclaimed. They must have rushed to help as soon as the battle was over instead of picking up the spoils. Now that he was free, Wild had no issue collecting what they had left behind. He moved to stand and grab some bokoblin horns and maybe another sword or spear, but nearly toppled over as his previously trapped leg exploded into pins and needles.

Luckily Warriors had been standing next to him and Wild just ineffectively bounced off his armour instead of falling on his face.

“You good, Wild?” asked Warriors.

Wild nodded, gritting his teeth against the pain of the pins and needles running up and down his calf and foot.

“Here, I got him,” said Time, stepping over to the two of them.

“You sure?” asked Warriors with a glance to the bruise on Time’s face.

“Are you implying I’m not strong enough,” said Time with a thin smile.

“Uh, no.”

“Excellent.”

Time pulled Wild onto his back for a piggyback with almost no effort. To the side, Four and Legend were supporting a dazed, but now awake Hyrule between the two of them. Already Twilight was taking the lead. Legend was giving him directions to a nearby village that had an inn that definitely liked rupees more than answers to difficult questions.

 _“Put me down when my leg stops feeling like its got lightning running through it,”_ signed Wild in front of Time’s face.

“Sure thing kid,” said Time and Wild could practically hear the grin in his voice.

Wild sighed, and let himself be carried away after Twilight. Although he would never admit it, it was kind of nice to be carried, and Time’s shoulder was a solid place to rest his head.

**Author's Note:**

> I have another version of the memory written up and may post it as a chapter two. the version thats in here now is a lot closer to what i originally envisioned, though still pretty different. 
> 
> As always, your comments are what inspire me to keep this series going!! What crazy adventures should Wild and the boys get into next??


End file.
